Providence High School (San Antonio)

Providence High School is a Catholic, single-gender college preparatory high school located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. It is accredited by the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of The College Board. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Basic facts

Opened in 1952, by the Congregation of Divine Providence, who owned and ran the school until 1991, when it was separated and the Congregation became the Sponsors of the school. A School board was installed and given the responsibility of running the secular part of the school. The school's principal is Sister Antoinette Billeaud,(of the Congregation of Divine Providence). Ann Bristol, a former principal, currently serves as the school's president. Providence students are known as "Provets", which is also the school mascot. The official school colors are navy blue and white, and students wear uniforms with the exception of "Blue and White" days, which are subject to a dress code. Students run a yearbook, called the "Philothean", and a school newspaper, called the "Provue", as well as publish a student literary magazine, called "The Plaid Skirt Perspective", and organizations ranging from an Environmental Club, Book club (dubbed the Provet Page Turners), as well as its own chapters of National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. The schools' seniors annually bring in more than a million dollars in scholarships, and every graduating senior attends an institution of higher learning, ranging from San Antonio College, University of the Incarnate Word, Our Lady of the Lake University, to Johns-Hopkins, Harvard, and Princeton.

Academics

This school boasts 9 Advanced Placement, the most of any catholic school in the arch diocese of San Antonio. Providence also has a unique grading system, an 'A' is not an 'A' until it is above a 93. 93-100 is an 'A' 82-92 is a 'B' and 70-81 is a 'C', but like most schools, anything below a 70 is failing.

Prep School

Providence High School opened a prep school on the second floor of the building on the left side. It opened in the fall of 2005 and got its first batch of girls from St. Martin Hall, which was closing down its middle school. Providence Prep's principle is Mrs. Ibrom, vice principal is Ms. Scruggs. Other staff includes Mrs.Barksdale, Ms. Whitely, Mrs.McClure, and Mrs. Burkholder.

History and progress

Providence HS was established by the Congregation of Divine Providence as a girls' high school back in 1951, with a broad selection of courses. The school has evolved with time, trying out various types of schedules and eventually phasing out its home economics-based courses in exchange for more career-minded technology courses. The role of the CDP order has also changed with time. In 1991, Providence High School was incorporated, thus leaving the decision-making to a board of directors that includes both CDP sisters and lay people. In 2006, Sr. Antoinette was instated as principal, the most recent CDP sister to serve since Sr. Ramona Bezner in 2000.

The high school has also responded to the declining interest in Catholic education in the city, but in a different manner from other single-gender high schools such as Holy Cross or St. Anthony's. Instead of becoming a fully co-educational school, it has chosen instead to widen its enrollment to include middle school girls . Some courses taken by Providence HS students are co-ed, as a limited number of courses are shared with the neighboring boys' high school Central Catholic. There are also co-ed opportunities for Providence students who wish to take part in Central Catholic's Mighty Button Band and in the ROTC program; the latter is a recent development as the program was opened to Providence students in 2003.

Community

Providence HS fosters a sense of community at its school, involving its students' parents in long-standing traditions such as the Mother/Daughter Luncheon and the Father/Daughter Banquet, and encouraging its seniors to reach out to the school's fresh(wo)men via "big/little sister" events, among other events and activities.

Students can also elect to participate in various competitive athletic activities, from basketball to cross country to track & field and volleyball. Two of the more recent sports additions are tennis and golf. And Providence students who wish to be involved in spirit organizations can choose to cheer either for fellow Provets or for Central Catholic.Providence also opened a Preparatory school in 2005. With as little as nine eighth graders,the school has been making very well progress. In 2006-2007, the school had 86 students in the intire prepartory school. Next year ( 2007-2008) there are 103 students signed up to attend the Prep school.

Alumnae

School's alumnae have gone on to success in varying fields. Its graduates are businesswomen and politicians, artists and writers, scientists and doctors, and a whole host of achievers and contributors to their respective communities. More famous alumnae include singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa, local newspaper columnist Jeanne Jakle, councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros and former local councilwoman Maria Antonietta Berriozabal and also the exwife of singer Johnny Cash Vivian Loberto.

Alumae, Dora Menchaca of class of 1973 died on 9.11.01 when her plane crashed into the pentagon.

Trivia

- There is only one currently teaching sister, Sr. Phyllis Bunnell, who teaches Latin.

- There are five sisters who work at the school, including Sr. Billeaud, the principal, as well as four sisters who do coding.

- The school operated on Block Schedule, and have rotating A and B days

- They have various traditions, such as Junior Pigtail Day, Ring Turning, Senior Rose mass, Freshman and Sophomore commissioning.

- Each class has a retreat, similar to a field trip.

External links

* [http://www.providencehs.net/ The school's official website]